Flames seek deja vu for dynamic duo

Vicki Hall, Calgary Herald10.16.2009

Brent Sutter is shuffling his lineup ahead of tonight's game against the visiting Vancouver Canucks, and Flames head coach may be trying to spark Jarome Iginla, left, by reuniting the Calgary captain with old buddy Craig Conroy on the same forward line.

They’re tied together like Rocky and Bullwinkle, Tom and Jerry or Batman and Robin.

The dynamic duo of Craig Conroy and Jarome Iginla reunited at practice Thursday for the enigmatic Calgary Flames.

They call each other best friends. They routinely hang together on the road. And they still joke about the day they met up-close-and-personal on Oct. 26, 2000, when Iginla pounded Conroy, then with the St. Louis Blues, in a one-sided scrap.

But can they still get it done together on the ice? Has Father Time spelled the end of the famous Flames pairing.

“We’ll see,” Conroy, 38, said Thursday, shedding his red practice jersey. “I’ve got to play with Iggy for maybe six or seven years off and on. And it does make a difference.

“You know where he likes to go. You know where he wants to get the puck. And this is the first right-hand guy I’ve got to play with all year.”

And he’s not any right-handed guy. Iginla, 32, is a first-team National Hockey League all-star. A candidate to captain Team Canada at the Vancouver Olympics. The leading scorer in franchise history.

He’s also fighting to find his form six games into the regular season. In seven games, Iginla has two goals and four points.

‘‘We just want to get some flow,” said Conroy, who has two assists in his seven appearances as the centre on the third line. “I want to try and get him the puck, but I’m not worried about it. If he gets it, he gets it. But I do know where he likes to go and find open ice.

“It might last for a game. It might be a period. It might be a shift. Who knows?”

Regardless, Conroy is expected to centre a line tonight with Curtis Glencross and Iginla against the Vancouver Canucks at the Pengrowth Saddledome tonight.

The other line combinations, coming out of the Brent Sutter blender, look like this:

n Fredrik Sjostrom-Olli Jokinen-Eric Nystrom;

n Nigel Dawes-Daymond Langkow-Rene Bourque;

n Brandon Prust-Dustin Boyd-Brian McGrattan.

The defence pairing of Robyn Regehr and Dion Phaneuf remained intact, but Jay Bouwmeester lined up with Cory Sarich and Adam Pardy teamed up with Mark Giordano.

Same old team. Totally different look.

“You know what? Let’s not make too much about Conny and Iggy,” Sutter said. “We’ve changed up a lot of things over the last couple of days. You guys see one guy all the time. I’m not like that.”

That one guy would be Iginla, the face of the franchise. When Iginla stumbles out of the gate, Calgarians worry.

It’s a phenomenon as predictable as the public outcry over the questionable snow removal in a city that likes to depend on chinooks to clear the roads.

“I’m about everybody,” Sutter said. “It’s about where we can get the most out of every single individual.”

On the surface, the Flames are doing just fine with a 4-2-1 record. But the embarrassing 6-5 overtime loss in Chicago (after coughing up a 5-0 lead) Monday and the lack of offensive output in Columbus (one goal) have fans fretting.

And then there’s the matter of shots against. Calgary goaltenders are facing an average of 33.7 shots a game — the fifth highest total in the NHL.

Not exactly what Sutter had in mind.

“That’s something we obviously have to work on,” said forward Eric Nystrom. “It’s just commitment and paying a price and making sure we’re blocking shots and clearing out the front net.

“We have to get better at it, and we’re going to.”

The line of Sjostrom-Jokinen-Nystrom gives the Flames flat-out speed.

“Olli’s a great player, obviously,” Nystrom said, of the chance to play with a proven first-line centre. “He’s fast. He’s big. And he’s easy to play with. I’m looking forward to get the chance to play with him. I think we complement each other well. And Freddy’s a strong player. He can really cycle it in the offensive zone and create some chances.”

Even so, most eyes in the crowd tonight will focus on the top line with Iginla, Conroy and Glencross.

Iginla took a rare day off from chatting with reporters Thursday to talk with a 15-year-old boy from Coaldale, Alta., through the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

So that left Conroy to express the enthusiasm the two have for playing with one another.

“It could be a shift,” Conroy said, trying to keep his own expectations realistic. “It could be two. I don’t know. I’m just going out to do the best I can.”

And then came the wide grin.

“I always love playing with Iggy,” he said. “For whatever reason, we’ve had a connection over all of these years.

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